Final solution

A public opinion survey of corruption by Transparency International Pakistan is a damning indictment of the PTI regime. Nearly 86% of respondents think this regime’s self-accountability is unsatisfactory and nearly 66% say this “accountability” is partial and one sided. Indeed, the two most important causes of corruption are weak accountability (52%) and the greed of powerful people (29%). Nearly 73% think that corruption could have been reduced significantly if this regime had held and empowered elected local bodies (which is hasn’t) while 93% confirm that inflation has been the highest during this regime compared to the two earlier regimes (PPP and PMLN), suggesting economic mismanagement on an unprecedented scale. An earlier international survey had confirmed that Pakistan had become more “corrupt” in the last three years than in the preceding five. But instead of focusing on good government and delivering positive results to raise the standard of living and security of Pakistanis, this PTI government has tilted at windmills and done U-Turns, compounding insecurity and instability. It has hounded the opposition, eroded media freedoms, alienated foreign governments and plunged the country into a deep well of indebtedness.

Now Imran Khan has embarked upon a plan to target the Election Commission of Pakistan and undermine its credibility. His insistence on the use of EVMs, despite strong objections by civil society experts and the ECP, is a primary case in point. He has unleashed federal ministers Fawad Chaudhry, Shibli Faraz, Azam Swati, etc., to hurl abuse and threats at the ECP; he has refused to consult the leader of the opposition to fill two vacancies as required by law and constitution, leaving the ECP incomplete; and now he has brazenly defied written orders by the ECP not to tour KP and announce new welfare schemes while canvassing for local elections is underway. His scorn and disdain for the ECP is evident from the manner in which he has conducted his “defence” in the foreign funding case for seven long years despite the overwhelming evidence of misappropriation of billions of rupees in party funds.

It seems, therefore, that Imran Khan is preparing the ground for retaliating against the ECP in the likely event that it indicts him for corrupt practices in the foreign funding case which is about to conclude. Much the same sort of reading may be attributed to some other statements he has made or decisions he has taken. For instance, his “Absolutely Not” remark and his contextualisation of the Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan as “cutting the shackles of slavery”, are aimed at extracting full mileage from the anti-American sentiment in Pakistan (despite on-going secret negotiations with Washington on precisely the same sort of issues) in the same manner in which his “critique” of “Islamophobia” and references to “State of Medina” are aimed at capturing the attention and support of the burgeoning “youthia” population of this country. Indeed, his U-Turn on trade with India, a first step on the road to the sort of “normalisation reset” suggested by the army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, is of a kind with his anti-American stance which has been deliberately “personalised” with pointed references to the “ignorance” of Joe Biden, Anthony Blinken, etc., and the “fascism” of Narendra Modi. In fact, his last minute refusal to attend the Democracy Conference — President Biden’s attempt to reclaim his country’s declining “democratic” credentials while pulling up his low domestic and international ratings – has little to do with standing with China on the issue of Taiwan and more to do with his proposed “life after death” populist narrative to salvage his political career in the coming months.

The Miltablishment, he must rightly sense, has decided to cut its losses with him and go back to the drawing board. The Miltablishment’s domestic “reset” has taken longer than anticipated because the personal ambitions of some top generals got in the way to muddy institutional waters. But that has apparently been sorted out now and new initiatives and options can be considered. A successful vote of no confidence against Imran Khan can be launched by the PMLN, PPP and Miltablishment “assets” as soon as some “trusted understanding” on core issues can be clinched between the Miltablishment and PMLN and between the PMLN and PPP. Since that may take some delicate toing-and-froing requiring some time and space, we can understand why the PDM has postponed its Long March three months hence. All parties now realise each can’t have its way fully, it’s important to get rid of Imran Khan first and clear the decks, so a pragmatic political compromise is probably on the cards. Of course, Imran Khan can decide to call it a day himself by going down as a “political martyr who defied both America and the Army in the service of Allah!”

But that won’t work. Imran Khan has cried “Wolf” so often, and alienated so many by his deceitful propaganda and hollow self-righteousness, that not many will wait on him much longer. Instead, the day a vote of no-confidence is launched against his government, there will be a mad scramble inside and outside parliament for election tickets from the PMLN which will be perceived as having brokered a winning deal with the Miltablishment and few will pause to consider or raise any moral issues and dilemmas for any of the parties to the final solution. The rest, as they say, will follow in due course.